All Over Again
by Shade
Summary: Shirou Takes the Third Option. Save the Girls, Save the World. Heavy Spoilers for FSN, FSN HA and Fate Zero. You have been warned.
1. Prologue & Epilogue

_Where does a story begin? In the future stained in blood?_

Where does a story end? In the past yet to be?

It began with a death and ended in a death.

The last one started it, but the first one finished it.

And somewhere in between them, the world changed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-  
_**-Prologue**_

"The sentence of death will now be carried out."

He looked at him, the man he had saved. The man who had betrayed him.

The man who signed the order to execute him.

He had followed his dream to become a hero.

And now the realization of that dream was going to kill him.

Yet, he didn't care.

He didn't feel much of anything anymore.

Gone, all of them gone. The precious people he had cherished,  
one by one they had drifted out of his orbit and left him alone.

No, there was room for self-deceit here, not now.

He had driven them away. There had always been another crisis,  
always something else to do instead of letting them get close to him.

He had let their love die on the vine.

Perhaps this was punishment for his sins.

He had never told them. Except for her.

Would he meet her again?

Would she understand? Or would she no longer recognize the man she had fallen in love with?

He would have the answer to that soon.

The sound of the trapdoor opening up underneath him was the second loudest sound of his life.

The crack as Emiya Shirou's neck snapped in the noose was the first. And the last.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-  
** -Epilogue**

The city was starting to burn around them.

Two figures moving almost too fast to be tracked by the naked eye clashed  
and seperated repeatedly like high speed pendulums as metal rang on naked metal.

The knight was a blur of blue and silver, only the pale gold of her hair betraying  
any hint of softness to her deadly figure. She fought with the mechanical precision  
of a finely honed machine, cold and efficient.

Truly, she was worthy of the title for the strongest class of Servant, Saber.

As for her opponent, he met her blade for blade, matching every bit of ferocity  
with an attitude that infuriated the knight despite the mask of control she wore.

Despite the rain of seemingly endless weapons he produced, she could sense that  
he was still holding back, still refusing to fight her with everything he possessed.

That it increased her own chances for victory was irrelevant. Her Code of Chivalry  
could not accept this condescending to what she believed was merely her gender.

Sex was meaningless on the field of battle. A woman could die just as equally as a man.

But he would not stop looking at her. His gaze seemed to burn her, those eyes  
that reflected an image of her as a woman, not a warrior, not a King.

Second only to her desire for the Grail, she wanted to kill him.

And after him, her master. The honorless bastard who did not let her truly battle other Servants,  
but merely used her as a distraction while he quietly assassinated the other masters.

Emiya Kiritsugu, she did not know enough profanity to properly curse him to whatever damnation he deserved.

But after this last battle the Grail would be complete and their paths would never cross again.

She would be free.

Free from the Command Seals. Free from her Geas to the Throne of Heroes. Free from her Crown soaked in blood.

All she had to do was kill the last remaining servant, Archer.

The opening was swift and unexpected.

He fired another sword and his previous eagle eye aim seemed to vanish. The blade came nowhere  
near her as she charged in, her sword still up to guard as she closed to strike.

But he made no move to defend himself. He only looked at her and smiled.

It had to be a trick. She knew it and was waiting for it right up  
to the moment that her sword ran him square through the heart.

Crimson blood ran down the immaculate blade and trickled warmly  
onto her gauntlets as she stared dumbfoundedly at his still smiling face.

"Why," she voiced her confusion out loud.

The lost expression on her face almost broke him where her attacks had not.

Slowly, painfully, he embraced her frozen form. He could feel the tension forming,  
could almost read her mind forming the suspicion that he was planning a last attack from death's door.

He moved his mouth close to her ear and whispered, "Because I love you."

Whatever she had been expecting, that had not been it.

She gaped at him as his dying body began to dissolve into motes of blue light.

"I will always love you, Arturia."

He looked behind her to where his last attack had hit.

The only attack in this battle that had ever really mattered.

The arrow that had turned Kirei Kotomine into a wet paste on the church's floor.

And so still wearing that happy grin, Emiya Shirou died.

** -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-  
All Over Again  
by Shade**

Fate Stay Night, Fate/hollow Ataraxia & Fate/Zero are property of Type-Moon

** -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**


	2. Chapter 1: The Golden Rule

**All Over Again  
by Shade**

Fate Stay Night, Fate/hollow Ataraxia & Fate/Zero are property of Type-Moon

** -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-  
Chapter 1: The Golden Rule  
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

The first night, the doorbell rang.

Tosaka Rin looked up in irritation from where she had been doing the final checks on  
the summoning circle. Her expression swiftly changed from annoyance to caution,  
as a Magus in the 5th Grail War she couldn't afford to take anything at face value.

She descended warily down to the main hall, only to find after some quiet scrying that it  
really was only the old postman who serviced her neighborhood and not some bloodthirsty  
rival intent on taking out the competition a little early.

He'd dropped off a faded and worn looking envelope which she had placed on a round table  
in the living room where she looked at it suspiciously. The first thing she'd checked for  
had been magical traps and poisons, but her spells had found nothing. Which of course only  
served to make her even more distrustful of the thing.

The only reason she hadn't burned it already was that fatal flaw of every Magus, her damnable curiosity.

Why had a letter from ten years ago been addressed to her, to arrive on this night,  
just an hour before she had planned to summon her Servant for the War?

She couldn't help it. She had to know.

Taking out a small letter opener, she slit the crackling envelope open and extracted the folded up paper from within.

She read the note.

Then she read it again.

Even on a third go around, the simple message didn't change.

_** 'Check your clocks, Idiot Rin!'**_

There was no signature.

Which was probably just as well considering the evil red aura forming around the girl.

** "WHO'S AN IDIOT?!"**

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"I'm really sorry that you had to stay so late, Shirou."

"It's okay, Issei. I could use the overtime anyway."

"But still..."

"It's fine. But I have to admit, I didn't know your temple was much for drinking."

"Normally they're not. But it seems a donor set this up several years back to thank the priests."

"Well, I hope they don't feel too bad when they wake up tomorrow."

"As my father would say, 'Adversity tempers the steel of the soul.'"

Emiya Shirou snickered at his friend's dead on impersonation of the gruff older man.

"Well I'll see you at school on Monday then."

Ryudo Issei hesitated, he always felt a little awkward when it came to his friend's domestic situation.

"Sure you'll be alright?"

"Yeah. But if I don't hurry back soon, Big sister Taiga is going to blow a gasket."

The mental picture that brought up was enough to make even Issei smile.

"Good night then."

"Good night."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The letter had disturbed her far more then she was willing to admit.

Rin nervously fingered the heirloom jewel in her hand, the blood red crystal felt warm on her palm.

The summoning circle in front of her was perfect. Every line was clean and every symbol exact.

There was still a little time left before the clock struck two.

Her father had felt she would need the trump card he'd left in his will.

Should she use it for the contract? But what if she needed it later?

Why couldn't her father have left her a catalyst?

All she had of him now was his knowledge, the jewel...._and her Azoth._

She suddenly looked at the ancient dagger as if she were seeing it for the first time.

The cold steel seemed to wink back at her in the dim light.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_ "Ahahaha...so even witches can cry, huh...."_

Her voice was almost lost in the sound of the rain. She could barely feel the cold  
oozing through her sodden cloak down her back anymore. Her prana was almost gone,  
and there was no one to give her more. Her master was dead. Killed by her own hands  
when he'd tried to force himself on her.

Caster wept and raged against the fate that Man and Gods alike had condemned her to.  
She had never wanted to be a witch, trapped in this endless cycle by the Throne of Heroes.  
The sins that she bore, all she wished for was to finally be cleansed of them. She had hoped  
that this time, with the Holy Grail she could finally put an end to it all one way or another.  
But it seemed that it was not to be, no matter how hard she tried she could not escape her destiny-

"Hey! Miss! Are you alright?"

And that was when a coincidence more miraculous then any miracle occurred.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Shirou Emiya knew he was in trouble the moment he stepped foot into the house.

Bad enough that he was so late coming home from work.

Worse was the unconscious young woman he was carrying bridal fashion in his arms.

But by far the worst of it was the person sitting there waiting for him in the living room.

It wasn't sweet Mato Sakura who would have believed a simple story of assisting someone in need.

Nor was it Fujimara Taiga who would have yelled at him for awhile but forgiven him in the morning.

No, it had to be Hisau Maiya, his normally absent guardian.

He cringed inwardly at the expressionless stare she gave him.

"Well, would you like to explain this situation, Shirou," she asked in a cool clipped tone.

"Could it wait till morning?"

Her eyes narrowed. But then her attention seemed to be diverted towards his right arm  
and whatever she'd been about to say came out as, "Put her in the guest room. We need to talk."

For a brief moment he just stood there, stunned by this unexpected reprieve, brief as it was.

Then Emiya realized that it probably wasn't a good idea to look this  
gift horse in the mouth and started off towards the empty guest room.

Behind him, the older woman sighed and ran a tired hand through her short pageboy styled hair as she closed her eyes.

_ "So it's starting again. Just as you predicted, Kiritsugu."_

Maiya felt an ache in her right leg, the one that had been crushed by Berserker during the last Grail War.

She still walked with a slight limp to this very day.

_ "I promised you that I would look after your son. I will not let this War destroy him like it destroyed you."_

It was going to be a long night.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The church doors creaked open, letting a cold draft blow through the old stone building.

A dark uniformed figure looked up from her slice of cake and smiled cheerfully at the newcomer who stepped inside.

"Welcome, Illyasviel von Einzbern."

Ruby red pupils studied the sitting figure, a plate of white frosted cake resting on the desk  
in front of the still smiling silver haired woman with those unsettling amber eyes.

"Hmph."

Clad in rich velvet winter furs, Illyasviel marched past the rows of empty wooden benches,  
each step of her custom trimmed boots echoing across the dark granite tiles.

The young beauty resumed her interrupted meal without another word as the pale ivory haired aristocrat  
approached her. She savored each delicious bite of the fluffy cake and creamy frosting even as the other girl  
stood right behind her, glaring a hole at the back of her head.

This standoff continued until at last Einzbern couldn't resist any longer.

"Well?"

Karen Ortensia blinked and turned around.

"Oh, you're still here?" The smaller girl barely managed to stop the growl that wanted to leap out from her throat.

Why did this "person" have to be the mediator for the Grail War?

But there were protocols to observe. This was a civilized affair, after all.

Illyasviel curtsied to the older woman and said formally, "In the name of House Einzbern  
we come before the Church as seekers of the Holy Grail."

With surprising speed, Ortensia put down her fork and rose gracefully to her feet.  
The long white scarf that hung around her shoulders seem to flutter with a life  
of its own for a moment before settling back down.

"We of the Church will always open our doors to those who seek refuge. May you find salvation in your quest."

With the necessary formalities carried out, the young girl turned and left without a backwards glance.

"Oh dear, that makes four of them."

The agent of the Church sighed mournfully.

Things were going to get rather noisy in the neighborhood very soon.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

For the first time in years Emiya felt like a little kid again.  
His guardian just had that kind of effect on him. There had never been any real warmth  
in the relationship between them, she'd always been polite but distant in contrast  
to his adoptive father. He'd tried several times to bridge that gap but his faltering attempts  
had always been brushed off.

"She seems to be sleeping peacefully for now."

Hisau Maiya was not someone who inspired closeness.

"Yes, Maiya-san."

More like respect tinged with traces of fear.

"Now start from the beginning and don't stop until you reach the end. And don't leave anything out."

Shirou didn't even try to hide anything as he spilled out the events of the last couple of hours.

Maiya nodded her head every now and then as if filing each piece of information for later internal review.

Then suddenly in the middle of his report she asked her ward to repeat what he'd just said.

"This is important, Shirou. Were those her precise words to you?"

"Yes. She asked me, _'Will you be my master?'_"

"And then?"

"Well, I mean I couldn't just leave her there and her voice sounded so desperate-"

Emiya was horrified to suddenly find himself babbling under that intense stare.

"Did you agree?"

_ "...yes."_

Maiya sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"I see."

Frantically the young man tried to justify his actions.

"I mean, even if we don't really need a maid I'm sure that she could help around the house...."

The words died on his lips as the atmosphere in the room seemed to congeal around Hisau's frozen form.

_** "What did you say?"**_

"She could help out around the house?"

""Before that."

"A maid?"

"Yes, that's what I thought you said."

"It made sense with how she was dressed and-"

"Shirou."

"Y-yes, Maiya-san?"

"Are you telling me that you think she's an unemployed maid?"

"Um...yes. Isn't she?"

One of Maiya's hands came up to squeeze the base of her nose sympathetically.

"I suppose that's one way to look at the situation."

The young man relaxed ever so slightly.

"But then there's the matter of your right arm."

Shirou looked at the offending appendage. For the first time he noticed  
the faint blue markings on the back of his wrist.

"When did I get that?" "For now, you'll need to keep it covered in bandages for the next couple of days.  
If anyone asks, you can tell them you had an accident with some of your tools."

"But I haven't had any accidents with my tools," he said in a puzzled tone.

Too late, Emiya noticed that his guardian was now standing next to him, one of his hammers in her hands.

** *TWHACK***

"AAAAUUUGHHHH!!!"

"Now you have."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Illyasviel walked down the flickering empty street, muttering darkly to herself.

The indignity of it all, having to put up with all of these idiots just to get at her father's adopted pet.

She was in the mood for blood.

All the years of training and discipline she'd undergone had been to prepare her for the Holy Grail War.  
But for Illyasviel, there was a more personal stake in all of this. This was her chance to finally meet  
the boy who had stolen her parent away from her. She had seen photos of Shirou Emiya, but had not yet  
found the right moment to confront him. It was strange, she wanted to hurt him as his existance had hurt her,  
but at the same time she wanted to see what it was that had drawn her father to nurture the boy  
over his own flesh and blood.

_ "Frustrating."_

With no witnesses around, her velvet clad back made a tempting target.

Two shadows detached themselves from the rest and made their move.

With a panther's beastial speed, the demonic spear and it's azure armored wielder sprang into action.

Behind him came his partner, a serious looking shorthaired redhead  
in a brown men's business suit with a matching red necktie.

"Now, Lancer!"

Lancer's weapon dove unerringly towards its target.

The petite Einzbern grinned. This would do.

** *Clang***

And bounced off of an enormous shape that had suddenly materialized between the Servant and his target.

Lancer sprang back like a cat and looked up. And then looked up even more.

The almost devilishly confident look on his face melted away as his jaw hung slightly agape at the sight  
of the savage red eyed behemoth clad only in a solid plate metal skirt that stood before him.  
In one hand was a sword so huge and heavy that it was little more then an edged stone pillar.

There was no mistaking this servant's class.

"Berserker, kill them."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The old man studied his shriveled claw like hand with an almost alien detachment.

How many decades had he waited for the Miracle to occur?

He didn't even remember why he'd wanted it in the first place.

All that was left inside of his festering blackened heart was the hunger for the Holy Grail.

The other Servants were already beginning to show. His heir was strong, but the mind lacked discipline.  
If they failed in their task he would have no choice but to intervene directly. Such was his right  
as one of the Original Founders of the War.

He would watch and wait.

_For now._

** -End Chapter One**


End file.
